Featured Picture: Sam Smoothy | Skier: Mali Noyes
Mali Noyes may simply be the hardest-working skier within the business. A former College of Utah medical pupil and present oncology nurse, the Salomon athlete nonetheless manages to pursue careers each in drugs and snowboarding. She’s been steadily making her title in steep snowboarding for a number of years now, checking off traces from Alaska to British Columbia and again dwelling in Utah.
Her resume is in depth, her ardour is limitless, however even for Noyes, her objective this season was a lofty one. It was an concept that propagated again in 2023, and eventually cemented itself this winter. In March, she got down to ski the 93 hardest traces within the Wasatch Mountains… in file time. Psychotic? Possibly. Inspirational? Actually. And after an extended chat with Noyes detailing her expertise, it grew to become clear that the snowboarding was maybe the least essential a part of this whole accomplishment.
The Wasatch Mountains seem like a serrated wall, cascading upward out of the Salt Lake Valley. Unsurprisingly, these gargantuan buildings harbor a few of the most difficult snowboarding within the continental U.S. Over the past three a long time, many of those traces have been properly documented. Maybe probably the most notable assortment is printed in a guide titled ‘The Chuting Gallery,’ revealed in 1998 by skier Andrew McLean.
The steepest traces in ‘The Chuting Gallery’ stand as much as any competitors. That’s why checking off all of them as quick as humanly attainable is an outrageous objective. “It occurred throughout our 900-inch [snow] yr in 2023,” mentioned Noyes when pressed in regards to the thought’s origin. “Every part was so stuffed in, and I began to assume ‘how briskly may I ski these if I put my head down and went for it?’”
Others have tried, with skiers like Noah Howell and Caroline Gliech conquering the entire guide over a number of years amidst different tasks. SLC native Mark Hammond held the established completion file at 5 months, and thus, Noyes knew her time to beat. Whereas a choose few of the traces embody slight variations, the ultimate variety of runs she settled on was 93. Sure, 93 of the steepest chutes, couloirs and faces within the Western U.S. all skied in beneath 5 months; that was the objective.
The thought grew to become paramount for Noyes, like an insatiable itch. It stayed together with her all all through final winter. As Utah’s snowpack by no means fairly aligned, she selected to spend ample time exploring the peaks round Golden, British Columbia, together with her boyfriend; skier, horse-kicking protester and Pit Viper aficionado Spencer Harkins. (That’s an influence couple of snowboarding if there ever was one.)
Whereas some would spend years getting ready to try a venture of this magnitude, Noyes mentioned she was accomplished ready by the point winter rolled round in late 2024. Nevertheless it wasn’t with out a little motivation. “Cody [Townsend] actually gave me that final push. I’m so fortunate to have him as a buddy and mentor. In December, we chatted and he reiterated that the circumstances won’t ever be good, so I ought to simply do it. I took that to coronary heart and got down to give it a shot this winter, it doesn’t matter what,” mentioned Noyes.
As time marched on and January ticked away, the circumstances in Utah’s backcountry had been removed from good and didn’t enhance shortly. “It was demanding,” Noyes chuckled. “We had a number of persistent weak layers, however fortunately I used to be in Golden [B.C.] and received to ski lots to start out the season.” She remained optimistic and patiently waited for the Wasatch snowpack to heal.
“One of the best recommendation I received was from Greg Hill,” mentioned Noyes. The legendary ski mountaineer informed her, plain and easy, “‘Go, and should you fail, you’ll be taught from it,’ is actually what he mentioned to me.” Hill’s recommendation struck a chord, and similar to that, she was off. Fittingly dubbed Challenge Speedy Hearth, Noyes began her journey to ski these 93 traces in file time on March 12, 2025.
The duty shortly proved to be a foreboding beast. ‘The Chuting Gallery’ traces are littered all through the Wasatch, on many alternative faces and features, creating a variety of circumstances. When traversing this a lot terrain, the mountains are at all times making an attempt to kill you. There’s no manner round it. However surrounded by a proficient staff of ski companions, together with the one and solely Sam Smoothy, Townsend and Harkins, Noyes used collective knowledge mixed together with her personal intimate data of the Wasatch to navigate safely.
The psychological weight was substantial firstly, and that nervousness didn’t simply subside. “As I began the venture,” Noyes recounted, “I’d summit a line and instantly spiral. I used to be consumed by ideas of all the opposite traces left to do, the altering circumstances, my very own security… it wasn’t a wholesome begin.”
However on day 10, the crew tried one of many extra formidable traces within the assortment, Medusa’s Face on Mount Olympus. With out exaggerating, it is a big, steep rock slab. You want constant, heavy snow for it to fill in. In different phrases, snowboarding Medusa’s Face in a well timed method is totally out of your management. Mom Nature will determine when, for a short window in time, it’s doable.
This lack of management tremendously nervous Noyes. “We had 4 days,” she mentioned. “We received fortunate and after snowboarding that I felt just like the preliminary weight was lifted, and I knew I may do it.” There have been ample laborious occasions after Medusa’s Face, however she now felt prefer it was all inside her grasp.
“Don’t get me incorrect, the ‘f*ck this’ moments had been nonetheless bountiful,” Noyes mentioned with amusing. “I had three shut [avalanche] calls in a row, and that type of stuff can mentally break you.” She had determined early on that it was essential to do a couple of line each time attainable in a day. In fact, that carries a brand new set of risks. Fatigue, altering climate, variable circumstances and extra are all amplified while you’re shifting within the mountains for prolonged durations of time.
“It was a lot more durable than I believed,” she mentioned, her brilliant tone briefly fading right into a somber demeanor. “I needed to discover ways to push it whereas discovering the road, all whereas making an attempt to by no means attain the purpose the place I didn’t need to return out… and I knew that was an actual chance.”
That’s a part of the take a look at that comes with list-based objectives within the mountains. You’re inevitably compelled into less-than-ideal conditions, even harmful ones, all to maintain on schedule. Noyes recounted that she and Smoothy had been on Lisa Falls when an unsuspecting spring storm rolled in and dropped 10 inches of snow in two hours. Pure avalanches started to interrupt free because the duo made their manner down in open terrain; a real nightmare state of affairs. “It was a bonding expertise, however one which I by no means care to have once more,” Noyes mentioned. However cooler heads prevailed, they usually made it out unscathed.
In that hardship, Noyes discovered considered one of her best takeaways. “It’s so cliche, however I used to be floored by the sense of neighborhood this caused,” she mentioned. “I get a lot pleasure from these relationships, and to me, that’s the palpable fantastic thing about snowboarding. Downside fixing and dealing in the direction of this goal with these unimaginable individuals from across the globe is one thing I’d by no means commerce. They helped me turn out to be extra current, and even having fun with a single flip with them would make the entire day price it. They had been there by way of the top.”
And with immense perseverance, the top was discovered. With winter holding sturdy within the excessive peaks, Mali Noyes completed all 93 traces on April 27, 2025, finishing the whole listing in an astounding 47 days, demolishing the earlier file by three months.
Having had time to digest this maddening expertise, Noyes has discovered a broader profit to her venture that she’s trying to share as she continues her profession. “Christina Lustenberger as soon as talked about this and I really like repeating it,” she mentioned proudly. “Each technology of ladies has a job, and that’s to boost the bar.”
Noyes continued, “Hilaree [Nelson] confirmed that girls can lead expeditions. There weren’t many, if any, examples earlier than her. After which individuals like Christina began recording first descents. Not only a first descent for a lady, however a primary descent. That’s what I’m most pleased with right here: this isn’t the quickest time for a lady. There’s no asterisk, it’s simply the quickest time. Interval. I’m excited that that is one other notch displaying that girls belong on the highest degree of snowboarding, and I can’t wait to see how the subsequent technology takes it even additional.”
Taking it additional than Noyes is actually going to be an immense problem. That’s as a result of her ardour for snowboarding is only a mirror for her ardour in the direction of life. For instance, close to the top of our speak, the oncology nurse remarked on how she was wanting ahead to selecting up extra shifts quickly, and the way she misses the inspiration she good points from her sufferers and the reward of serving to them. That is somebody who appears to be like to be higher in each facet of life.
Selfless, devoted and aspirational, Mali Noyes is certainly a shining gentle in a ski business consumed by clicks and devoted to the subsequent trending factor. She’s blazing her personal path in probably the most genuine manner attainable. That being mentioned, she’s completely proper; some younger girl will finally push the boundary additional, and also you higher consider Noyes can be there cheering her on when that day comes.
Keep tuned this fall as Noyes can be dropping an in-depth collection about Challenge Speedy Hearth on her YouTube channel.
